CARACAS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 08th September, 2021) The Constitutional Court of Cape Verde rejected an appeal by the lawyers of Venezuelan diplomat Alex Saab, thereby supporting his extradition to the United States.
In July 2019, Saab, a Colombian who is also a Venezuelan citizen, was included in the US sanctions list as the organizer of a "widespread corruption network" in the interests of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. A year later, at the request of the United States, Saab was detained in Cape Verde, where the plane on board which he flew to Iran stopped for refueling. The African country's court in January 2021 ruled to extradite him to the US, then the ruling was upheld by the Supreme Court.
"The cassation appeal regarding Alex Saab is dismissed," the ruling, published on the court's website, says.
Saab's defense insisted that the extradition of diplomat Saab to the United States was in violation of the Vienna Convention. There is no bilateral extradition treaty between the United States and Cape Verde.
The Venezuelan government demanded that Cape Verde release Saab, stating that he was Caracas' special envoy to the African Union. According to Colombian media, Saab allegedly has information about secret agreements of the Venezuelan government with Turkey, Iran and Russia, which, according to the United States, affect US interests in the region.
The Russian Foreign Ministry called the situation around Saab "outrageous." The ministry said that Washington, apparently, decided to "reach a new level", creating the precedent of a diplomat's extradition.
